


sweet, falling remedy

by stormss



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: 2x08 Speculation, Established Relationship, Fluff, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Paramedic TK Strand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29814165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormss/pseuds/stormss
Summary: There are brief flashes of what happened—the stuffy, crowded van and the panic in Nancy's eyes—but all TK can focus on is the dull ache that spreads through his whole body and the all-too familiar brightness of the hospital room and the warm, steady weight of a hand in his.*Or, a 2x08 spec fic.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Nancy Gillian & TK Strand
Comments: 42
Kudos: 403
Collections: 9-1-1 Lone Star ▶ Carlos Reyes / Tyler Kennedy "TK" Strand





	sweet, falling remedy

**Author's Note:**

> so i wasn't going to write this bc i wanted to see how the episode ends up playing out, but then i saw the promo and i started rambling about an idea i had in response to [this ask](https://reyesstrand.tumblr.com/post/644513634175909888/waitttt-a-minute-how-are-they-gonna-squeeze-in-tk/) on my tumblr and, well, here we are! 
> 
> the title comes from _run away with me_ by sufjan stevens. as always, come say hi on [tumblr!](https://reyesstrand.tumblr.com/)

TK's barely halfway down the stairs when he stops and smiles, suddenly overwhelmed by what he sees in the kitchen. 

Soft music plays from his boyfriend's phone on the island, the whole room washed in pinkish sunlight from the open windows. What he's most smitten over is Carlos, though, who is humming under his breath as he cracks eggs into a pan with one hand. TK picks up his pace a little, hearing his boyfriend huff a laugh as he curls his arms around him from behind, pressing his cold nose to the crook of Carlos' neck. 

"How are you so cold in the morning?" Carlos asks, turning his head to the side to catch sight of him in his peripheral. 

TK shrugs, and burrows even closer, tightening his grip around Carlos' waist. "Because you so rudely got up before me." 

"I'm always up before you," Carlos points out, and TK kisses his boyfriend's neck in response before moving to his favourite spot: on the counter, next to the sink, close enough that his knee brushes against Carlos whenever he shifts his position in front of the stove. 

When he hoists himself up and gets comfortable, TK sits back and takes in the sight of his boyfriend, who somehow manages to look beautiful even at five in the morning. He's in the dark blue shirt he'd been wearing before they called it a night; the front of the shirt's a little wrinkled, but that doesn't stop the sleeves from straining against his biceps—nor does it stop TK from staring at them. His hair's loose, a little mussed up both from TK's fingers and sleep. The smile he throws him when he realizes TK's staring is soft, and knowing, and TK thinks, _I love you._

"I love you," he says out loud seconds later, because he can. 

Carlos comes in close, then, between TK's legs, resting his hands on his thighs. "I love you too." 

They're smiling into their first kiss of the day, and TK settles an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders as he says, "you really don't have to do all of this, you know." 

"What do you mean?" Carlos asks, and TK huffs at his small smile. 

"I mean making breakfast at five in the morning before my shift, when you don't even work today," TK says, stroking along Carlos' nape with his thumb. "You're already going above and beyond by willingly planning a party all day with my dad. Seriously." 

Carlos fondly rolls his eyes, and presses a searing kiss to TK's cheek. "It's your big day, Ty. So don't question the pampering." 

" _Pampering_ , huh?" TK can't help but to grin, pressing their foreheads together. "You're too good for me, babe." 

"Nope, you deserve it," Carlos insists, kissing the corner of his mouth. He drops his voice down, then, and whispers, "I'm so proud of you, you know that?" 

TK ducks his head, his heartbeat picking up, heat rising up his neck. "Thank you," he whispers, unable to find the words to really encompass all he wants to say to Carlos—for being there on the hard days, for bringing him back down to earth, for offering an unwavering, constant support. 

He'd gotten the one-year chip at his meeting last night, and it feels like a comforting weight in his pocket, but it's tonight that he's looking forward to the most—the whole team, everyone he knows in Austin, coming over to support his anniversary. Carlos had been the one to insist on it, placing happy little kisses all over his face when TK had told him about the upcoming date, and the team had quickly jumped on board with the celebration. 

TK's just got one meagre twelve-hour shift to finish first. 

And he figures that's manageable, even as he reluctantly leaves Carlos after they finish breakfast. He gets coffee for Nancy, Tommy and himself, rattling off their orders without thinking, and as the sun finishes rising beyond the horizon, he takes a deep breath. As he squares his shoulders, strolling through the open bay doors, he just thinks, _twelve hours to go._

* * *

Sometimes, TK thinks that the universe is out to get them. 

Too much happens at once— _isn't that how it always goes?_ —because in one moment they're driving through the various levels of the parking garage, keeping their eyes peeled for their pregnant patient while TK smirks at Nancy's playful jabs at his driving, and the next they're realizing that the woman is definitively _not_ in labour, and then he hears an all-too familiar click. 

_Of course,_ he thinks, as the guy holds a gun to Captain Vega's head. All their hands fly up in the air without having to be told, TK's jaw clenching when the woman rises to her feet, pointing a gun of her own in his direction. 

"You don't have to do this," Captain Vega says, and TK meets Nancy's eyes, her mouth drawn into a straight line. 

"Don't move," the guy's voice is harsh, and sends a chill down TK's spine. "Don't yell." 

"Listen, man—" TK tries, but then he gets two guns pointed at him, and all he can think about is the sensation of breathing through a straw, of a punctured lung, of weeks of PT. He hears his dad's voice in his head— _if you can hear me, I want you squeeze my hand_ —and then there's thoughts of Carlos; of his smile and crinkled eyes this morning, of his fingers twined with his, of his joking, _if you get yourself shot again you're never making it out of the doghouse._ And so TK presses his lips together, keeping his eye contact with the man unbroken as he watches him. 

"Get your stuff," the man says, gesturing to everything they'd put down to help the woman. TK and Nancy move in unison, slowly crouching to collect their bags, shouldering them and staying quiet. When the guy seems satisfied, he gestures to Tommy, and then the rest of them. "Start walking."

As they leave the ambulance behind, they weave between parking columns and rows of cars until they approach a parked van. The guy nods at Captain Vega, and she opens the door, and all of them stare helplessly at the man who looks half-dead on the vehicle's floor. 

"You're gonna save his life," the man grunts out, and Nancy turns her head to meet TK's gaze. He gnaws on the inside of his cheek, wanting so desperately to reach out and offer a soothing hand to her shoulder; to put himself between the gun and Captain Vega.

Before any of them can say a word, TK flinches at the woman's gun being waved in his face; he catches sight of Captain Vega's tense shoulders, and then all of a sudden they're being ushered into the van. 

And it sort of feels like the beginning of the end. 

* * *

"Don't do anything stupid," Nancy whispers to him, while they're digging through their bag, listening to Captain Vega's orders, her voice somehow steady even as the woman points a gun at her, the man watching and blocking the doorway. 

It's clear it's a crapshoot, Captain Vega having them prepare for just about every treatment they can handle with what they've got on hand. But none of them really have experience with this sort of thing.

TK meets Nancy's eyes, playing like he can't find the right gauge needle to give them an extra minute or two. 

"TK," Nancy warns, her expression practically pleading, somehow already able to read him after only a few weeks of working together as partners. "Don't." 

"I know," TK mutters, pulling on a new set of gloves. "But if I get the chance to distract them—" 

"—that isn't your job," Nancy cuts him off, looking over his shoulder at Captain Vega and their patient, who's set up on a stainless steel observation table. "I'm not losing someone else, TK." 

TK swallows, dropping his eyes to his own hands before he meets her eyes once more, only able to offer her a nod. It isn't enough, but it's all he can manage without it being too suspicious. 

The man yells at them to hurry up seconds later, though, and all they can do is get back up and bring everything over to Captain Vega. 

"Cap," Nancy whispers, and Tommy bites her bottom lip before taking a deep breath.

"ABCs," Captain Vega says, looking between them. "We do this like usual." 

TK wants to mutter that there's literally _nothing_ that's usual about this, but he still follows his captain's orders; he presses his fingers to the man's pulsepoint, surprised to find a slow _thud thud thud._

They go through every other test they can, searching him over for injuries and affixing an oxygen mask over the man's nose and mouth. The armed women eventually goes off somewhere outside of the room, and the man comes close to Nancy and Captain Vega to inspect their work, a picture of stress as he runs a hand down his face, gun shaking in his grip. 

"TK, can you grab some saline?" Captain Vega asks, gesturing to the bag they've left closer to the exit. 

And that's when he sees his chance. 

The fire alarm is like a beacon, and all he can think about is the alternate shift working today responding; of them at least getting Nancy and Tommy to safety, even if this ends badly for him. He doesn't think of anything else as he tries to keep his movements careful and quiet, only inches away when he feels a hand on his shoulder. 

It's a rough grip, digging right into the muscle, and it turns him around. 

The guy lifts his gun, and TK ducks, and he manages to avoid getting hit. Adrenaline pumps through his veins as he and the man fight over the gun, watching as it eventually gets flung across the floor. Time seems to stand still, then, both of them scrambling after it, but then something hard connects with his head, and then—then it all goes black. 

* * *

The first time he wakes up, everything's too blurry to really recognize what's going on. 

There's been some commotion since he passed out—that much is obvious, from the shouts and the room swarming with people. He hears a familiar voice, then, and he feels a little woozy but he still pushes through until he spots the face he loves most in the world. Carlos calls to him, but TK only sees his mouth forming his name, he doesn't hear it. He reaches for his boyfriend, catching a glimpse of his dad and Mr. Reyes in uniform behind him, hesitating for a moment. 

"Ty," he finally hears, and Carlos' hands are on him, and TK feels darkness consume him once more. 

The next time he wakes up, it's obvious he's in a hospital room. 

TK's grown familiar with the feeling of tubes coming out of his body and various machines beeping all around him. He groans as he slowly fights back the internal pull to get some more sleep. There are brief flashes of what happened—the stuffy, crowded van and the panic in Nancy's eyes—but all TK can focus on is the dull ache that spreads through his whole body and the all-too familiar brightness of the hospital room and the warm, steady weight of a hand in his. 

He squeezes that hand, his only lifeline, and he slowly turns his head toward the comforting sound of Carlos saying, "TK?" 

"Hey," TK manages to huff out, his eyes burning with unshed tears over Carlos' expression—a mix of heart-wrenching sadness and pure relief. He closes his eyes when Carlos reaches over to kiss his temple, lingering for a long moment with his lips pressed to his skin, a tear finally managing to slip down his cheek. 

"It's okay, Ty," Carlos whispers, gently wiping under his eye with his thumb. "You're okay." 

It hits him all too quickly that he wasn't alone back there. His heart drops and he tries to move out of the bed, held back by his own aching limbs and the restraint of the wires. 

Carlos immediately has his hands on him, too, gentle weight against his shoulders. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" 

"Nancy and Captain Vega, did they—" TK can't even manage to say the next few words, dread already sitting heavy like lead in his stomach. 

"They're okay," Carlos says, moving onto the edge of his bed, cupping TK's face between his hands. "I promise you." 

TK feels himself sag a little, tension suddenly oozing out of his body, practically draining him of all his energy. 

"What's the damage, then?" TK finally asks, gesturing to his own body. 

Carlos tells him—the head wound that only by some miracle didn't result in a concussion, the black eye, the various scrapes and bruises over his body. He's also got a sprained wrist from his fall, but the doctors don't seem too concerned about him making a full recovery. With every injury Carlos tells him about, though, TK watches as his boyfriend's face gets more and more pained. 

"Hey, I'm sorry," TK murmurs, once he's gotten the full spiel. He drops his head to Carlos' shoulder, twining their fingers together once more. "I didn't mean to scare you, babe." 

Carlos makes a small noise in the back of his throat, curling an arm more securely around him. Into his hair, he says, "I know, Ty. I'm just—fuck, I'm so relieved you're okay. We didn't know how we'd find you three." 

TK frowns, and brings Carlos' hand to his lips to press a kiss to the back of it. 

"I can't imagine you working with my dad like that," TK says, lifting his head to make eye-contact with his boyfriend, playing with Carlos' fingers, now. "Wait, _your_ dad—" 

"I talked to him," Carlos whispers, meeting TK's eyes. "It was the right time."

"How'd that go?" TK asks, and Carlos smiles a little. 

"Better than I thought," Carlos says, pressing their foreheads together. "Way better. Uh, they want to have us over for dinner, when you're better." 

TK moves in for a hug, this time—a little awkward, with them both being seated and all, but like always, they make it work. "I'm so happy for you, Carlos." 

Carlos just hums his thanks, and pulls him closer, keeping him in the tight hug. TK sighs, and lets himself get lost in the touch, the comfort that comes naturally keeping him going. 

* * *

"Easy, Ty." 

"It's a sprained wrist, babe, I didn't get shot." 

Carlos gives him a hard look. TK winces. 

"Sorry," TK says, squeezing Carlos' hand tightly as he locks up the Camaro. They'd been at the hospital for another couple of hours, the doctors wanting to make sure all his tests came back okay. They did, thankfully, and he'd likely only be off work for a week or so, and the whole trip home TK felt the weight of his one-year chip in his pocket, fielding all the _get well_ messages and the _congratulations_ texts. 

He feels like shit, happy to just spend a night in with Carlos, but he—he'd been excited about celebrating, is the thing. He loves his family he's found, and he'd been looking forward to seeing them. Worst thing of it all is that he hasn't been able to get in touch with Nancy or Captain Vega, and he knows that Carlos wouldn't lie to him about them being okay, but he just—he needs to see that for himself. 

They make their way up to the front door, and Carlos keeps his arm thrown over TK's shoulders. 

"Here, I got it," Carlos says, stepping in front of TK to get the door. TK rolls his eyes at him but appreciates the gesture, slinking his arms around his boyfriend's waist. 

He's about to say something probably a little cheesy and definitely lovestruck, but he stops when Carlos steps aside just inside the foyer, and TK realizes that the lights are on and there's the smell of food and just about everyone he loves on the planet yelling _surprise!_ at the loudest possible volume in his face.

TK gasps a little, and glances over at Carlos, who's grinning at him. 

"You—" TK stops, looking around at the balloons. His mom's got a cake in her hands—one _almost_ as ugly as the tumour cake—and Marjan's the first to yell _congratulations_ in a way that has everyone else parroting her, her arms the first to be thrown around him in a hug. He gets bombarded then, one by one, but none has him staggering back as much as Nancy's. 

"You asshole," she mutters into his ear, and TK closes his arms around her. 

"Come on," he whispers, nodding at Carlos over her shoulder. He gives him a tiny smile, and moves into the small crowd of people while TK pulls Nancy outside. The door closes behind them, and Nancy's on him again, hugging him impossibly tight before pulling away with a nudge to his ribs. "Uh, ow." 

"I'm only kind of sorry," Nancy says, arms crossed defensively in front of her. "You know, you scared the shit out of us. Out of _me._ " 

TK ducks his head, scratching at the back of his neck. "I'm—" 

"— _I'm not losing someone else_ , didn't I say that to you?"

"Nance—" 

"You gave us a fighting chance, and I appreciate the hell out of you for that, but you can't just worm your way into our team and then go and _sacrifice yourself!_ " 

TK finally puts his hands on her shoulders, bringing her back from her thoughts. "I'm so fucking sorry, Nancy." 

She stands back a little, blinking rapidly, before she hugs him again. 

"You know, before tonight I didn't even think you would ever high five me," TK whispers, mostly to rile her up. "Three hugs in the span of ten minutes? I feel honoured, Gillian." 

"I hate you," Nancy laughs, though she hugs him harder. "You're stuck with me now, Strand, you gotta deal with it." 

TK grins. "I don't mind at all." 

After a few more moments of reassuring hugs, he and Nancy move back into the house. She goes off to chat with Marjan, and he smiles at the two of them before he lets out a noise of surprise, suddenly pulled back against his boyfriend's front with his arm around TK's chest. He laughs, though, and ducks down to kiss his forearm. 

"You still did all of this?" TK finally asks, low enough only so the two of them can hear. "After spending all that time in the hospital?" 

Carlos kisses behind his ear. "I told you this morning, you deserve it. Kidnapping be damned, of course we're still throwing you a party." 

"You're something else, Reyes," TK mutters, his voice suddenly thick with emotion. He feels consumed by it; by this love for his boyfriend, for his family. 

Carlos holds him closer, kissing the top of his head, and TK looks around and knows that there's no other way he'd want tonight to end. He's _home_ —he's where he belongs, with the people that make his life what it is; they make it something to fight for. 

And he won't ever let it go. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! comments/kudos are greatly appreciated! <3


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